Social shoppers twice as likely to purchase, new research says

Dean Blake

2nd Oct 2018

Customers who engage with brands on social media are twice as likely to convert to a sale as those who engage through the brand’s website, according to new research by Wolfgang Digital.

The Irish digital marketing firm’s annual KPI report reveals that customers who engage through social media have a 4 per cent conversion rate, while the average website conversion rate sits at just above 2 per cent.

Analysing 250 million e-commerce website sessions and €500 million in online revenue, researchers merged Facebook’s analytics conversion data with Google analytics and an online survey to give a more accurate picture of a person’s path to purchase.

“When we averaged out our Facebook Analytics data we found that 3 per cent of the people who like your post will go ahead and purchase from you,” the report stated.

“The conversion rate increases to 4 per cent for a share, 4.67 per cent for a reaction, 4.9 per cent for a comment and if the user takes the time to message you it’s a whopper 9.95 per cent conversion rate.

“For reactions, it seems the stronger the emotion, good or bad, the more likely that person is to convert. This means it’s the mission of the social media marketer to make their audience feel intense emotions… good or bad.”

But as the report notes, the true value of social media lies in the fact that each person’s network of friends and family may also see interactions between a brand and its customers, driving discovery.

Sixty-six per cent of respondents said they had noticed a friend or family member interacting with a brand in the past 24 hours, and 62 per cent said this makes it more likely that they themselves will do so. Forty-eight per cent of respondents said they are more likely to buy from a brand that a friend or family member interacted with.